Squawking at Chimneys
by SamCyberCat
Summary: On his first day in London, Crow gets a sharp lesson on why stealing is bad and he shouldn't do it. Grasping Liquid side-story. Crow/Umid.
1. Chapter 1

**Notes:** This is a side-story for Grasping Liquid, showing Crow's adventures in London that occurred in the two months between Chapter One and Chapter Two of the main story. At the moment I've planned for it to be maybe two or three chapters long, but we'll see how that pans out. Sadly it probably won't make too much sense if you're reading this entirely as it's own thing, but you'd only really need to read the first chapter of Grasping Liquid for context, given that the other events haven't happened yet. So I'd recommend reading at least the first chapter of Grasping Liquid if you're not following that fic but want to read this one.

* * *

The train was crowded and noisy, but this was exactly what Crow wanted of it. He'd slipped onto the coach in the early morning crowd and had made a point of sitting near a large family who had at least four screaming kids of varying ages. This way when the ticket-checker came along he was flustered by all the wailing of the children and mistook Crow for being part of the family, which is exactly what Crow had hoped for.

Getting out of buying a ticket had been his first scam of the day.

Once they were on the move and it was all a bit more settled, Crow made his way to a quieter part of the carriage. He was sure not to go too far away from the family, just in case the ticket-checker came back around and thought it was suspicious.

For the rest of the journey he mostly looked out of the window and felt himself buzz with excitement at all the unfamiliar sights that zoomed by. 'Unfamiliar' is exactly what Crow wanted. He'd experienced too little of unfamiliar in his life. The streets of Misthallery were all he knew and he'd trodden on them all so many times that the spark they once held seemed to have vanished.

But today that was changing. He would no longer be the kid who'd only ever been to one place his entire life. Instead he'd travel to places he'd never been before and learn about them, learn how to work them in the same way he worked Misthallery. Even if he only intended to stay away from home for a short while, the pressure would add to the challenge. Crow wanted challenges.

Because of that, he'd known that the only place in England that would be good enough for him would be by throwing himself in at the deep-end.

London.

It seemed to take forever to get to the capital, but once he arrived there was no mistaking it. Crow felt a sense of naïvety for having referred to the little country station he'd got on the train at as being busy. In comparison to Kings Cross it wasn't even a drop in the pond. People were packed together so tightly here that Crow wondered how they managed to move at all – they must be experts. Certainly you could tell the locals, who flitted through like fish in a stream, compared to the dawdling tourists.

Crow had no time to be a dawdling tourist.

He all but jumped off the train, clutching his bag close so he wouldn't lose it. The large family went off in another direction and Crow almost wanted to thank them for their unwitting help before they disappeared from view entirely.

Being shoved around by the crowd was somehow thrilling. It didn't take Crow too long to pick up the flowing himself and weave through. Along the way he allowed himself a bit of light pickpocketing. Because the bustling of the station made it so much easier than it would be back home and here Crow wouldn't have to feel bad about stealing from people he knew. Even so, he told himself, he'd only take from people who looked rich enough to deserve it. Crow had some rather skewed ideas in that department.

Mostly he went unnoticed, but when he was almost at the door he did hear an exchange from one hapless victim.

"Samuel, what have you done with my pocket-watch?"

"I swear I don't have it, Unko!"

Crow chuckled to himself and slipped outside into the open. There he found himself greeted by an unusually bright day. Everyone knew that London was often the most grey, overcast city in England, but it seemed he'd been fortunate enough to come on one of the few days when the sun was shining.

He hadn't expected the streets to be any quieter than the station was and this did indeed turn out to be the case. The wealth of people darting here and there had been joined now by cooing pigeons and honking car horns. Truly this was the place where everyone wanted to be. And therefore was the place Crow wanted to be as well.

He breathed it in for a moment, though he had to admit that the air wasn't as nice here as it was back home. He wanted this foulness, however. He wanted all of this.

If he stayed there too long he'd only become disconnected from the rhythm of the crowd, so this brief pause was all he allowed himself before he went on his way again. Right now Crow knew he had no idea where he was going or even where he might end up when the day was over, but he didn't think of this as a problem at all. On the contrary, Crow wanted to get lost in London as best he could, so he could find his way on his own strength. Because of this, he wandered along for what seemed like hours, enjoying the people and places he saw as he went.

There were so many places in London he'd heard people talk about growing up – Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben – all those sorts of important buildings. Being able to see them was nice, but they weren't why Crow was here. Even so, he did stop to look at each one as he went past. For a brief moment he even considered dropping into Gressenheller University to see if Mr. Layton was there, but figured that wouldn't be the best way to spend his first day at London. And besides, a student standing near the gates had been watching him irritably as he walked by, so he didn't think he'd be able to sneak in without alerting her. Once Crow was safely away from the gate she went back to applying her lipstick and muttered something along the lines of 'Mr. L's fans will do anything to get in here, ugh...' Crow had to smile at that.

Before he knew it all his wandering had turned afternoon into early evening, with the brilliant white sky now having made way for calmer reds and purples. As much as he'd been putting it off, Crow knew that he'd have to look for a place to stay soon.

A bit more wandering couldn't hurt though, especially now that he'd reached some of the quieter streets and he could take his environment in at a slower pace. These particular streets suited Crow, they were rougher and more residential. Less shops littered them and there were more houses. The people he saw here were obviously those who spent every day in London, the magic having long worn off for them in the same way that it had done in Misthallery for Crow.

Crow couldn't imagine being anything but thoroughly enchanted by London.

And he mused to himself that today had also been a good day for making money while doing minimal work. If he lived here then he might not even need the black market – though this was a fanciful idea, he knew. Pickpocketing was all right every now and then, but he'd feel too bad if he kept it up. What Crow lived for was making people part with their money willingly, because of his wit and cunningness at selling them what they thought they needed.

All the same, he didn't think one more penny out of another person's pocket would hurt...

A small crowd of people were coming up. They seemed unconnected with each other, except for a tall girl who was talking to a boy who might have been her brother. Out of all of them, they looked the most distracted, so Crow silently picked them out as being the ones who'd possibly have their watches snatched.

It was a simple enough procedure that he'd done so often he was almost on autopilot as he brushed by the girl, who seemed to be angrily telling off her friend. However, things did not go to plan this time.

A sharp hand grasped firmly around his wrist.

"What do you think you're doing?" the girl demanded, as she turned to glare at Crow. Her expression was so sharp that Crow couldn't stop himself from cowering away from it.

"Bzzt! Incorrect! Stealing from Becky will grant you a penalty," droned the boy; him being the only other person in the crowd who stopped at the commotion. He sounded like he was doing an impression of one of those game show hosts that Crow sometimes heard on the radio.

Crow shook off his initial stunned reaction, tugged his arm away from Becky and legged it. Though it seemed he wasn't getting away that lightly, as it soon became apparent that Becky was hot on his trail. He glanced back over his shoulder to see her marching after him with grim intent, the boy left trying to keep up.

"He's going to get away!" yelled Becky, but then she seemed to look passed Crow, "Is that...? ...Umid! Grab him!"

It was too late by the time Crow turned his head around again. He'd ran straight into this Umid person, who firmly grabbed hold of him and held him still, despite all his struggling. In moments Becky had caught up with them.

"Can you believe this guy? I've got a good mind to drag him to to police station by his ear!" snapped Becky. And Crow genuinely believed that she'd do exactly that.

"What seems to be the problem, Becky?" asked Umid.

His voice sounded calm, despite the situation and Crow looked up to properly take in the boy who was holding him. Umid appeared... nice. He was just as tall as Becky was, but seemed considerably more relaxed. Looking at him somehow made Crow feel a sort of fuzzy embarrassment that he'd never gotten from being pulled up about pickpocketing before now.

"Contestant tried to steal money from Becky, but failed the challenge," buzzed the boy, who seemed to have caught up while Crow had been looking at Umid.

"What Max said," Becky tutted.

"I'm sure he didn't mean to," hummed Umid. He gave Crow a look that, while pleasant, was also stern enough to suggest that he should agree with him.

"Y-yeah, just... sorta 'appened..." lied Crow.

"'Just sorta happened' my foot! Look at his bag – it's practically bulging from all the stuff I bet he's nicked today," argued Becky. And Crow knew she was right.

"Now, now, that could be anything in there," Umid reasoned.

"Have him empty it out then," suggested Becky, her face curled into a cruel grin.

"On the street? Ya can't do that!" protested Crow.

"Fine, we'll take him back to the hotel and he can do it there," Becky instructed.

Crow looked weakly up at Umid, but his captor shrugged helplessly; "When Becky decides she's going to do something there's no swaying her, I'm afraid. It looks like you're coming with us."

The four of them made their way down a few more streets. If Crow had hoped that he might be able to get away in this time then he was sorely disappointed, as Umid kept a tight hold of his arm the whole time. For whatever reason Crow found that he didn't mind. When all this was over he would somehow get out of here and in the mean time, being next to Umid wasn't something he objected to all that much.

They eventually stopped outside of a place called the Weathered Duke's Hotel. It was a tall building that seemed to maintain its modesty, despite being a bit shabby around the edges. Crow supposed that this added to the mythos of this apparent Duke, whoever he might be, having survived all that's been thrown at him. Or maybe they just couldn't afford all the repairs and had to make do as best they could. That sounded just as likely.

Becky directed them through the door as if she owned the place, the noise they made waking an elderly woman who was dozing behind a counter.

"...Wassat...? Oh, Becky, I see you've brought friends..."

"This boy tried to rob me, Granny. We're going to interrogate him," corrected Becky.

"That's nice... do it quietly so you don't disturb the guests," Becky's grandma yawned, before she returned to her slumber.

Crow was led through to a what seemed to be a staff-room off to the side of the corridor. There was a definite feeling that this room was meant to be more practical than presentable, as in comparison to the lobby it was quite cluttered. A low table, surrounded by mismatched chairs, sat in the centre. Crow's bag was emptied out onto this.

And sure enough, all of his day's earnings came tumbling out. There were bracelets, pocket-watches, rings and a few wallets – though Crow hadn't particularly taken anything that would be of too much value. Mostly just trinkets they could resell back at the market.

"Jackpot..." Max murmured. He sounded vaguely impressed.

"Look at all of this..." gaped Becky, "Those rings definitely belongs to that Babette lady who stayed here the other week, the one with the little dog. And this here has Pierre Starbuck's name on! He's a famous footballer, however did you manage to get him?" Crow wished he knew who he was at the time, so he could have gotten more out of him. Nevertheless, Becky continued her scrutiny, "And this pocket-watch has that logo on it... from the whatsit... I know it's got something to do with the trains anyway."

"I got that one from a little black-haired fella at the station," confirmed Crow.

"Mr. Beluga! My word, have you had a right tour of London's rich and famous," Becky proclaimed, "It's a good thing I'll be able to get most of these things back to their owners."

"Ya know all those people?" Crow checked.

"Everyone stays at the Weathered Duke's," assured Becky, with a wink, "We're practically famous ourselves."

"Are ya...?" Crow mumbled. He didn't mean for it to come out so doubtfully, but Becky picked up on it all the same.

"Well, of course we are," she assured, "We might be just a little hotel now, but everyone knows us as the people who survived in the underground London. When we opened this place we got a bit of local fame as the ones who ran a hotel and believed we were ten years in the future. Though now we just get lots of guests because we're known for our excellent service."

Crow wasn't entirely sure what Becky meant by underground London or ten years in the future, but it did sound as if this place's quirkiness had put it on the map.

"Right... that's nice then. So, um, I guess I'll be off," Crow tried, as he eased himself out of the seat.

"No you most certainly will not!" snapped Becky. Once again, her commanding tone stunned him. It made Crow lower himself back down onto the chair.

"Come on, Becky, I think he's sorry," Umid chuckled. For some reason he seemed to be taking considerable amusement from all of this.

"Even if he is, we can't just let him wander around London unchecked," argued Becky, "Just look at how many people he robbed. It'll look bad on our reputation if someone associated with us goes stealing all our customer's goods."

"But I ain't associated with ya," protested Crow.

Umid ignored him and instead addressed Becky, "Then we can keep him here. He looks like he's from out of town and I bet he wants a place to stay. That way you could keep an eye on him and also put him to work, so he can pay off his debts to society."

"Granny did say we could do with some extra hands around the place. And this way we wouldn't have to pay him actual cash," agreed Becky.

"Wot do ya mean ya wouldn't? I ain't workin' for free!" whined Crow.

"Your payment is that we won't tell the police about all of this," Becky threatened, as she motioned to the table, "You should consider yourself thankful that we can get most of these items back to their proper homes."

"Oh yeah, I'm always thankful about losin' a whole day's work..." Crow grumbled, though he didn't have it in him to protest too much.

"So it's settled then," Umid chipped in, "Our mysterious guest will stay here, Granny Margaret gets a new worker and London is safe from this upcoming dangerous criminal."

"Somehow I don't think you're taking this as seriously as you should be, Umid," sighed Becky, "But all right, we'll have him. What's your name, kid?"

"It's Crow. Just Crow," he answered.

"Well then, 'Just Crow', I don't think you need introductions at this point, but I'm Becky, my Granny Margaret back at the counter there owns the hotel, this little guy is our resident loiterer, Max, and your saviour here is Umid, who's helping out at the hotel while he stays in London," Becky reeled off. She counted names on her fingers as she went, "There's a few other people you might meet, but I'm sure they'll introduce themselves if they need to. For the moment, Umid will show you up to one of our staff bedrooms. We all live in the hotel, so don't try any funny business."

"Wouldn't dream o' it," promised Crow. And for once he meant it.

"All right, so off you go then. Max, you start gathering up that loot. We've got a lot of honest work to do returning it all tomorrow, I reckon," instructed Becky.

Umid took this invitation to sneak Crow out of the room, both of them waiting until they were out of earshot of Becky before they spoke again.

"Becky is actually very nice," assured Umid, as they made their way up a staircase, "She just gets in a bad mood when people, eh, try to rob her."

"I reckon she wouldn't be the only one," confirmed Crow, "Though I am impressed that she stopped me. Not many people catch me out. Um, she's serious about returnin' that stuff, ain't she?"

"Yes, she is," Umid firmly answered.

"Just checkin'. So... Umid, why did ya 'elp me anyway? I've 'ardly got an honest face," Crow asked.

"Maybe I thought I could see something in you. And so far I have to say that I've been right – you've agreed to all of this without any more of what Becky would call funny business after all," Umid evaded. The answer was not at all what Crow wanted, but it was the best Umid was going to give him right now; "Anyway, here is our room. I'll give you some time to get settled, but I'll be back up later."

"All right then. Thanks," mumbled Crow. He didn't draw attention to the fact that his bag had been left downstairs, so he currently had no belongings to get settled with.

"You're welcome," replied Umid, "And Crow...?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't give me a reason to doubt my first impressions of you. If you do hurt Becky, Max or anyone else at this hotel, you will be hearing from me," Umid warned.

"Y-yessir..!" squeaked Crow.

As Umid turned and left, he felt his face go a warm shade of red. He didn't know what it was, but something about the idea of messing up in front of Umid made him feel more embarrassed than it would do with anyone else.

Though he reasoned it was just because he wasn't use to making mistakes. Back home he could do everything flawlessly and weave through the streets like they were nothing to him. Hadn't that been exactly why he'd come to London in the first place? He'd gotten so sick of completing all his challenges so effortlessly that he needed to move onto something that wouldn't be so easy for him. Making mistakes here was what it was all about. He'd learn from this, grow as a person and return to the Black Ravens stronger than ever before.

A-and hopefully in the meantime he wouldn't end up looking too much like an idiot in front of Umid... Not that it mattered too much, but somehow to Crow it felt like it did.

He settled down onto the bed and reasoned with himself that, other than the obvious embarrassment, today hadn't gone all that badly. He'd found a place to stay where all he'd have to do to pay for it was a bit of hard work, something Crow wasn't shy of. He'd maybe even made some new friends, if you could count them as that. They were certainly the beginnings of friends, if nothing else.

Putting it that way, Crow had to conclude that his London holiday was shaping up quite nicely indeed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes:** I apologise in advance to my fellow Crow/Badger shippers for this chapter. Though speaking of shipping, I did manage to cameo another pairing in this chapter especially for The-Mocking-J. See if you can spot it.

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Crow's first few days at the Weathered Duke's Hotel saw him pick up the ropes with relative ease. After Umid had shown him around and told him what was expected of him, the rest seemed to just slide into place. Although Crow hoped that his grand holiday to London wouldn't be taken up entirely by cleaning rooms and ironing bedsheets, he was glad to have somewhere to stay with no string attached.

Perhaps soon they'd trust him enough to let him go wandering around the city, although the suspicious glares he kept receiving from Becky suggested this would not be the case. No amount of Crow's charm could get through to Becky after he'd tried to pickpocket her on his first day here.

Outside of Becky though, both Umid and Margaret seemed to be passively fond of Crow, while Max regarded him with a vaguely mystified awe. It took Crow a while to get use to Max himself, given that the boy seemed to talk almost entirely as if he was a game-show host. Apparently Margaret thought he was going through a phase, albeit one that had lasted the whole time they'd known him.

Another face who'd popped up a few times was a man called Grafton, who Crow gathered was married to Margaret. They seemed to bicker a lot, so Crow gave them a wide berth whenever he saw them together. Today was one of those days. After he'd caught sight of them at the counter, Crow grabbed a large bundle of laundry and hurried out to the courtyard so he could hang it. That would hopefully keep him busy for a while.

However, it seemed someone had beaten him to this job.

"Hanging bedsheets must be a popular job today," Umid commented, as Crow dumped what he'd been carrying into a basket outside.

"I just, ah... wanted to get an early start," mumbled Crow.

"Let me guess, Granny Margaret and Grafton are talking again?" asked Umid, "Those two certainly are very passionate."

"Y-yeah..." Crow admitted.

"Well, if you give me a hand here then we'll both be done quicker and we can head out for a while," Umid offered.

Crow's face lit up at that offer; "Are ya sure? Becky might not like it if I wandah off."

"Simple answer – don't tell Becky," Umid laughed.

While he wasn't quite as sure as Umid was that Becky wouldn't find out regardless of whether or not they told her, Crow had to admit he was eager to get back out onto the streets of London after being cooped up in the hotel for so long. The washing was hanged out twice as quickly as usual after that suggestion and not just because many hands made for light work. It might not have been the most thorough job he'd ever done, but Crow got it finished all the same.

After that, they brought the empty baskets back inside, stored them away in a cupboard and headed for the front door. Umid stopped briefly to talk to Margaret and Grafton, possibly to say that they'd be out for a while, but he'd keep an eye on Crow. With that out the way, the two of them disappeared out to explore.

Or at least, in Crow's case it was exploring. It eventually became apparent that however long Umid had been here, it was long enough that he was familiar with all of these roads. Because of that, he didn't have the same fascination towards them that Crow did. It took Crow a while to even notice that instead of looking at the sights of London, Umid had mostly watched Crow's wide-eyed face and seemed to take some amusement in it.

Once again, Crow found himself embarrassed at Umid's attention.

"S-so wot is ya story anyway?" Crow hastily checked, after he'd recovered from this, "I know ya came to London to see the sights, but why 'ere outta everywhere in the world?"

"I could ask you the same thing," reminded Umid, "But okay then, I'll tell you my story. A few years back my home was saved by a group of travellers from England. My mother and many other people might have died without their help. They left as quickly as they came and since then I've been keeping up with any news about them as best I can. But eventually I realised it would be best to come here myself."

"Did ya find 'em?" Crow prompted, quickly taken in by Umid's tale.

Umid frowned; "So-so. There were five people altogether, but so far I have only tracked down one. From what I've been told, Professor Sycamore is constantly travelling, so I didn't expect to be reunited with him. There was a young girl called Aurora, but so far I've heard nothing of her... The other Professor, Layton his name was, is teaching here in the city. He is the one I've managed to meet up with again. Though his assistant, Emmy, has since taken another job working for the World Times newspaper and his apprentice, Luke, has moved to America, so I couldn't meet with them."

"Must be a right small world, 'cause I know Mr. Layton an' those last two as well," Crow cheerfully informed, "The three o' them 'elped my 'ome too. An' Luke even use to live there before 'e moved."

"Is that so?" hummed Umid, "It does seem like they're busy people. Though yes, to answer you question, they are the reason that I came here."

"All right, so ya came to meet ya friends, I can undahstand that. But without seemin' rude, if ya know only one o' them is 'ere, then 'ow come ya stayed so long?" Crow went on. From the way that the others talked in the hotel, it certainly sounded like Umid's time there had been extending into a longer and longer vacation with each passing day.

A deep sigh. For a moment Crow worried that he'd touched upon something too sensitive, but then Umid smiled and continued.

"In truth? I like it here a lot," he explained, "Before coming to London I'd spent much of my life in a tiny village back home. Mostly because I'd always felt as if they needed me to look after them there. But as I got older, I started to see that all of my young friends were beginning to look after themselves better. Then one day, my mother sat me down and said, 'Umid, you'll get sick of life if you only stay here forever. If you want to go out and see the world, then you should do it while you're young.' So I did. It wasn't easy, but I was determined to come to London once I'd set my mind on it."

The coincidence felt almost unreal. Umid had come here for nearly the exact same reasons that Crow had. He'd been bored of life in the same place everyday and wanted to see more of what the world had to offer. The main difference being that Umid had been certain those he'd been protecting could look after themselves when he left. While in Crow's case, he'd been less than sure that the Black Ravens would handle the auctions without them. When he thought of this a wave of guilt spread across him, but he swallowed it back as it became apparent that Umid was waiting for a response.

"Sounds like the two o' us 'ave a lot in common," he said quickly. Hopefully the pause hadn't been too long.

"Perhaps that's what I saw in you when you first arrived," Umid suggested.

"I still think ya lookin' too 'ard to see anythin' in me," dismissed Crow, "But all the same, I'm glad ya took me in."

"This way maybe the two of us can get the most out of London life together," agreed Umid.

"Y-yeah. That'd be nice..."

His words left Crow with a feeling of fleeting joy that his new found friend wanted to be here with him. Though it soon returned to that longer-lasting feeling of guilt. Did Umid think that Crow was going to permanently live here now? Because as much as Crow had wanted to get away from Misthallery, he never planned for this visit to be more than just that – a visit.

For that matter, Crow didn't even know for sure how long Umid would stay here himself. It sounded as if what had started out as a curiosity holiday had turned into Umid prolonging his trip back home more as time went on. Perhaps Umid had been so enthralled by London that he was considering staying here for good.

Crow spent the rest of the afternoon trying to work up his courage to ask about it, but constantly stopping himself at the last moment. Somehow questions like that felt intrusive. And if Umid asked the same of Crow, he wasn't sure how he'd respond to that. His previously definite answers had become a little fuzzy...

So they made small talk about other things, mostly the hotel and various tourist questions Crow had on his mind in regards London. It was amazing how fast time flies when talking about nothing with someone you enjoy being with.

When the sun was setting into a purple evening, they'd wandered into Regent's Park and both taken a seat on the grass to rest. Despite it getting on in the day, this still seemed to be a good place for people watching, as many faces went by. A young Geordie girl was being reunited with her mother, after seemingly getting lost in the zoo. The policeman who'd found her was a stout fellow, who got flustered at the praise the northern lady gave him. Just beyond them was a couple who were talking eagerly about a performance they were going to see at an open air theatre – a wild-haired guy said that he was looking forward to hearing some outrageous jams from a singer called Yuming, while his companion, the woman Crow had seen outside the university when he'd arrived here, assured him that these concerts were much tamer than his usual scenes. There was no doubt that the longer he spent here, the more people Crow would see and the more glimpses of their lives he would experience.

He decided then and there that this would be the place he'd come to when he had some time off and wanted to relax. Maybe one day he'd even be able to bring some of the Black Ravens here. But on the other hand, they might get bored faster than he did. Badger at least he could imagine would enjoy harmless people watching as much as Crow. Because Badger was pretty observant and didn't like to talk much. Whereas Louis would probably just want to come here to collect gossip. Even if he didn't know any of these people, gossip was gossip to Louis.

Umid and Crow sat together in companionable silence for a while, simply letting the world drift by. Somehow Crow could imagine that Umid felt the same way about this place as he did. Eventually though, it did seem like time for Crow to break the silence.

"Think we bettah get back before it gets too dark?" he checked.

"I know my way back well enough," Umid assured him, "So unless you're scared of the London nights I don't mind staying out longer."

"Oi, I bloody ain't scared!" Crow shot, indignantly.

All this resulted in was Umid laughing again; "Ah, maybe not now. But you will be once we get back and have to deal with Becky's wrath for skipping a full day's work."

"Maybe we could stay out for 'til latah..." mumbled Crow. There was no shame to admit that being told off by Becky left him a bit frightened.

"I thought you might say that," Umid replied, "Don't worry too much, though. There wasn't a lot that needed to be done today. If there had been then I wouldn't have suggested coming out like this."

"Easy for you to say. Becky nevah seems to get angry with ya," Crow muttered.

"That's because she can rely on me based on my reputation," teased Umid.

"All right, my record might be a bit spotty, but I've bin workin' my socks off since I got 'ere," protested Crow.

"I know. That's how I know you're a good person," said Umid.

That comment shut Crow up. It wasn't very often that he was referred to as a good person. While he'd worked hard to become particularly skilled back home, it was his sly cunning that impressed others. People liked him, but not many of them would call Crow "good" specifically. Apparently Umid would...

"Thanks..." Crow murmured. Far too aware of how closely Umid was watching him.

"People must not tell you that enough," Umid pressed.

This time it was Crow who laughed; "Nah, they don't tell me that 'cause it ain't true. If ya saw me back 'ome then ya wouldn't be usin' the word good to describe me. Amazin', yeah, but not good."

"I wouldn't disagree with amazing either," replied Umid.

Crow froze up at that. Usually Crow was an expert at dealing with people. He had to be in his line of work. Reading words and feelings just came with the territory, if you were good at it. Then you took what you'd read and spun your own words into something that helped you get what you wanted from them. Which in Crow's case was for the black market's customers to part with their money.

Something about Umid had made him lose this cool manner of dealing with others ever since he'd got here. But even in his dulled state, Crow could almost sense that Umid was trying to spin Crow the way Crow usually spun other people. He'd controlled every conversation they'd had since Crow had met him and only now was Crow starting to realise this.

So the question was, what was it that Umid wanted from him?

This time, the pause before Crow spoke next was a calculated one, not a flustered one.

"That seems like a strange conclusion to come to, seein' as ya mostly seen me scrubbin' dishes so far," Crow pointed out, "An' I doubt I'm the most amazin' at that."

"There's no need to act so suspicious. I can think you're amazing even if all I've seen of you is housekeeping," Umid dismissed.

"Wot's so special about that then?" Crow pressed. He hoped this wasn't leading up to Umid admitting that he was an avid fan of housework.

Umid shook his head; "You're something else."

"That didn't anwsah my question," insisted Crow.

He watched as Umid shuffled closer to him where they sat. Despite the fact that he was questioning him, Crow felt comfortable around Umid. So he didn't move away at all as he moved closer, merely maintaining his gaze up at him. Because if he lost eye-contact then that was the end of this conversation.

"That is my answer, whether you like it or not," Umid informed.

"Look, I know I'm amazin' an' I know I'm somethin' else, but I dunno why ya think that when we 'ardly even know each othah," argued Crow.

"Then I have a question for you," Umid countered, "Why do you think I'm so wonderful?"

"...N-nevah said that I did..." mumbled Crow.

A smirk; "Yes, you did. Maybe not in so many words, but I've seen it on your face since you arrived," assured Umid, "You are impressed by me, despite having no reason to be. Is it so far-fetched to assume that I feel the same about you?"

"...Yes! I-I mean, eh, I dunno... wot ya mean..." Crow coughed. And in that moment he knew that he'd messed up.

"You're a bad liar," Umid replied.

"I'll 'ave ya know I'm a fantastic liah," retorted Crow.

"Then tell me you don't like me," challenged Umid.

They stared at each other. As much as Crow knew that he'd lose this if they broke this moment, a bigger part of him felt that he'd already lost. His shoulders slumped and he lowered his gaze down to the grass below.

"...I'm not that good a liah..." he confessed.

"No, I didn't think you were," agreed Umid, "But I'm glad that you're not. At least it means we're on the same page now."

"We are?" Crow enquired, "An' wot page would that be?"

"A very confusing page," concluded Umid.

Crow could hardly disagree with him there. He nodded quietly and somehow felt better for having got this out in the open. Whatever this was.

After a moment of reflection he looked up and ahead, back towards the path. While they'd been talking it seemed that most of the earlier people had headed off. They still won't alone here by a long shot, with the sound of that concert coming from the distance. But to Crow it might as well have been just the two of them.

"Right, well I'm glad we're both confused. Or I think I am, anyway," Crow said, "Maybe... maybe we can be confused togethah?"

Umid got to his feet and stretched. For a second, Crow worried that he'd taken this too far. But then Umid offered out a hand to pull him up from the ground. Crow took it gratefully.

"And maybe we can go listen to some of that singing before we head back?" Umid added.

"Yeah," Crow confirmed, "I reckon I could make time in my busy schedule for that."

No closer to knowing what was going on between them or what they were going to do about it, the two headed off towards the source of the singing together. Even if they didn't have any answers, something about it felt better now.

So much so, that as they stood there listening to the beautiful sounds of Yuming's songs, Crow felt bold enough to slip his hand into Umid's.

Umid didn't object.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes:** We're at the final chapter of this side-story. Next I'll be going back to updating Grasping Liquid, with the start of Act Two. It seems that I've picked up a couple of new readers from this side-story, which is fantastic. If you haven't read Grasping Liquid already, then that story follows on from this one (with 'Squawking at Chimneys' fitting between the first and second chapters) and you can read about Crow &amp; Umid's reunion in the chapters currently posted. Hope to see you there and that I can keep up the pace for Act Two.

* * *

Crow wasn't sure exactly what to class Umid and himself as after that day out, but he knew that they were definitely something. And whatever that something might be, it had resulted in both of them becoming increasingly affectionate towards each other as time went on, which was all right with Crow.

Now the days at the Weathered Duke's no longer felt so much like work. Because for each time Crow had to take a meal order to the kitchen, Umid might be there to share some of the leftover sandwiches with him. And whenever Umid disappeared to drop laundry into the wash room, Crow might catch him by surprise with a quick kiss.

They hadn't been particularly vocal to the others about... whatever they were, but Crow had a feeling that most of them had guessed. Maybe not Max, but Margaret and Becky were onto them for sure. No one seemed to mind, however. It soon became just normal.

...So much "just normal" that Crow had to admit he wasn't sure how much time had past any more. It began to feel as if being here was just what Crow did every day.

Once that thought entered his head it was difficult to shake. He wasn't sure how long he'd planned to stay in London when he'd first arrived, but he knew that it shouldn't have lasted for the amount of time it had. This was suppose to have been about learning the ropes of the big city, to better himself back at the market. But in the whole time he'd been so caught up with the hotel and especially Umid that he'd not done anything like that.

And what about his friends back home...?

The Black Ravens had been understandably annoyed when Crow dropped on them that he was going to leave. But he'd promised them that he would come back. He'd wanted to come back a stronger person, so he could help them even more than before.

These thoughts dominated his mind. It took the spring out of his step to say the least.

"What's wrong with your face?" Becky asked.

The two of them were cleaning one of the rooms and Crow's lack of motivation had been bothering her. It was fair enough if he wanted to be miserable, but his pace was so slow that he was leaving all of the work to Becky!

"Hmm?" Crow mumbled. He looked up at her blankly.

"You've been moping about here for days now," she informed, "Did something happen with Umid? Something else, I mean."

"Nah, it ain't that," answered Crow, "It's just... well, um, 'ow long 'ave I bin 'ere for, Becky?"

Becky frowned; "More than a month, that's for sure. I don't think it's quite two months yet though."

"I see..."

"Oh, come on!" snapped Becky, "You can't just ask me an ominous question like that and only follow it up with 'I see'. What's been eating at you? Have you left something back at wherever you were before you came here?"

"Kinda, yeah," Crow replied. It was only fair to give Becky a proper answer, so he went on, "When I came to London, I wanted to get away from my life for a while. An' I 'ave done, but now I feel like I mighta stayed 'ere too long. I'm worried that my friends back 'ome will think I've left 'em for good..."

There was a bit of a pause after that. Becky pursed her lips as she mulled over what Crow had said. It seemed that this hadn't been what she'd expected to hear, although to Crow it felt like this answer was written all over his face.

He was just about to ask if everything was all right when Becky spoke again; "You should probably talk to Umid. He's been... no, we've all been under the impression that you were some kind of runaway. That something had gone on back home and you left to get away from it. Maybe it was a bit of a far-flung conclusion to come to, but you haven't talked a lot about where you came from and you just have... I don't know, that sort of vibe about you. Though if you're not planning to stay here forever, you should tell him."

Now it was Crow's turn to be stunned.

"Ya thought I was gonna be a permanent lodgah an' ya still let me stay?" he marvelled.

"Eh. You do the work, don't you?" Becky dismissed, "Even if you aren't as good at it as Umid is."

Crow was overwhelmed by this. For the whole time he'd been here, he'd assumed that he was a nuisance and they'd be glad to see the back of him. But apparently they'd genuinely taken him in as one of their own.

Now Crow felt even worse about this whole situation. If he stayed here then he was letting the Black Ravens down and if he went back to Misthallery then he was letting his new friends down. As well as leaving Umid...

"Becky, I-I..."

"Look, just go talk to Umid," demanded Becky, "You aren't really being a lot of help here right now, so I can finish up this room without you."

"Thanks, I appreciate this," assured Crow.

"You better!" Becky snorted. And as Crow turned to head out, she added, "Also, Crow? I know maybe you weren't what we thought you were, but... well, if things ever do go wrong back home and you need a place to stay, our doors are always open for you."

"Ya the best, Becky," he concluded. This was easily the kindest Becky had been to him since he'd arrived and Crow did indeed feel very thankful of the offer.

"Don't I know it. Now be off with you, lazy scrounger," Becky laughed.

Not needing to be told twice, Crow dashed out of the room to find Umid. The problem being that the hotel had so many different jobs to do and the staff generally took the approach of whoever gets to whatever job they want to do first gets to do it. Because of that, you could never be sure exactly where anyone was going to be at any time of day.

Eventually Crow found Umid in what was probably the most convenient place to talk – the staff bedroom they both shared. Even this needed cleaning from time to time and it seemed that Umid had taken it upon himself to change the sheets. When Crow walked in, his face lit up, which only made Crow feel worse about what he was going to tell him.

"Crow! I thought you were helping Becky today," started Umid.

"She sent me away 'cause I was bein' useless," Crow replied, "An' for... anothah reason..."

"Oh?" Umid pressed. Right now Crow had his full attention. Umid placed the stripped bedsheets back down onto one of the beds and watched him with intent.

"Th-that is... um, I think ya all got the wrong impression o' me," admitted Crow.

"You've certainly left a very clear impression to me," Umid joked, "If that is the wrong one then you've put a lot of work into it."

"Nah, wot's been goin' on with us is propah," Crow assured him, "An' the way I've bin actin' while I've bin 'ere, that's the real thing. But I think that... I coulda bin a bit more open about why I came to London in the first place."

"Ah yes, that has been a mystery to us all," agreed Umid, "So are you finally going to tell me the tale of where you came from?"

"Kinda... b-but I was mostly gonna tell ya about... 'ow I 'afta go back there. Probably soon," mumbled Crow. He couldn't meet Umid's eyes after saying that. It was too much to drop all of this on him.

"Go on," prompted Umid. If he was angry or sad he didn't show it in his voice.

"All right, well... um, back 'ome in Mist'allery, I kinda run this market with my friends," started Crow.

Umid interrupted him, "What kind of market? Someone your age running a whole market is very impressive."

"It's a black market," confessed Crow. He felt traitorous for giving away the secret so freely, but he doubted that it would cause as much bother if Umid knew in comparison to if one of the louder-mouthed locals back at Misthallery did; "It's Nothin' sinistah – we clean up old junk an' sell it. About the worst we do is pretend somethin' is worth more than it actually is."

"Somehow I'm not surprised," Umid commented, he sounded intrigued, "That does seem like the kind of job I could picture you doing."

"Yeah, well, there's a buncha us altogethah. We call ourselves the Black Ravens an'... 'old on a sec, I think I 'ave a photo," said Crow.

He turned away and went for the travel bag that had been with him when he'd come to London. Now that all of the pilfered goods had been returned to their owners, it mostly just contained a few items of clothes. But tucked away in a side-pocket was a worn and slightly scratched photo that included all of them. It wasn't only a photo of the Black Ravens, as they didn't have the extra money to get photos developed. Instead it was a photo that had been taken when Loosha's statue had been unveiled. Copies had been sold to the locals and Crow made sure to pick one up. He liked having a picture with all of his friends on, even if it did also include half of Misthallery along with them.

"This is them 'ere," Crow stated, as he took the photo over for Umid to look at, "We're all clumped togethah 'round the statue. That grumpy sod is Roddy, 'e's my best mate. Next to 'im Scraps an' Gus, be'ind both o' those two are Louis an' Marilyn, our best gossips. Then we've got Wren an' Socket, those two are related, an' that gangly one tryin' to 'ide be'ind me is Badgah."

"You must be very fond of them," observed Umid. In that moment Crow realised that Umid was looking at him, not the picture. Crow hoped he hadn't been pulling an embarrassingly soppy face.

"I-I am," confirmed Crow, "An' I miss 'em..."

"Because you only left them to see more of the world," Umid guessed, "And now you've been here so long that you've started to worry."

"I stayed 'ere so long 'cause I wanted to," promised Crow, "Especially, w-well, 'cause o' you, Umid."

Umid's feelings were still hard to read right now, but he was smiling, so Crow could only assume that he wasn't taking this as badly as he could have done. Either that or he was very good at hiding his emotions.

"You know you should go back to them now," Umid pointed out, "There's no need for any of us to tell you that."

"But I'll feel like I've used ya all!" wailed Crow, "An' I don't wanna leave ya..."

With that, Umid stooped down to give Crow a kiss on the forehead; "There's no need to worry about that. Because you aren't leaving forever, are you? You're going to come back."

"I am...? I mean, yeah, I am!" Crow vowed, "Maybe next time I'll be able to bring some o' the othahs with me to introduce ya to. They're gonna love ya! An' if ya evah get the time off work, then ya can come to stay with us in Mist'allery."

He'd forgotten that Umid himself was also only in London on an extended visit. Though, to be fair to Crow, this was also something Umid was forgetting more with each passing day as well.

"It's a deal then," agreed Umid, "Just don't leave it too long before you come back."

"As soon as I can, I'll be back 'ere!" answered Crow. Perhaps he was a little too caught up in the moment to consider how impractical that particular promise might be to keep, but right now he was determined that he could do it. This way he'd be able to keep both his sets of friends happy.

They talked for a while longer after that, but when Crow looked back on it he could mostly just remember the sweet nothings and hopeful promises. It seemed that the rest of the staff had a good idea that they needed more time, because the two of them were left alone for the rest of the day. Umid mumbled something about how he'd have to make it up to Becky for leaving all the work to her again and how Crow was lucky to be getting away before he had to make up for slacking off.

And a few days after that, Crow did indeed decide that he had to go.

Only this time, there was no sneaking about a train station, alone in a crowd of people. This time he instead had a group of new friends to see him off. Umid, Becky, Max, Margaret and Grafton all shut up the Weathered Duke's for the day, so they could take Crow there. He was thanking them almost the whole car journey, before Becky told him to put a sock in it.

When they reached King's Cross, Crow looked at them all and felt a pang of sadness that he was leaving them behind. It hadn't properly hit him before now, but being at the final hurdle made the feeling arrive in full force. They were all stood there, waiting for him to disappear off to find his train and they would have made a nice picture, if Crow had a camera. Instead he'd have to make sure to remember this forever.

He said goodbye to each of them in turn and when he came to Umid, he even leaned up to give him as kiss. Nearby he heard Margaret whisper, "I knew it, now pay up," to Grafton. Sounded as if a bet had been won. Certainly there was a bit of grumbling from Grafton as Crow next came to say his farewells to the old married couple, whereas Margaret was smiles all around.

"You just come back to us safely," Margaret demanded. And she gave Crow a hug.

"I will," replied Crow, "But I need to get back to my friends first. An' my Mum, as well."

"My goodness, he's left a mother worrying about him," sighed Margaret, "What a difficult son I bet you are."

"Ya 'ave no idea," laughed Crow.

"We might have more of an idea than you think!" insisted Becky, "Now go on, push off before you make Max cry."

"I'm not crying," Max pointed out. This was the first time Crow had heard him not sound like he was presenting a game show. It was actually weirder to hear him talk like this now he'd gotten use to the alternate.

"Well, you might start if he sticks around too long," informed Becky. And she definitely wasn't sniffing back any tears herself.

"All right, I'll get goin' before I miss the train," said Crow, "Thanks for everythin', all o' ya. An' Umid...?"

"...We'll see each other again," Umid finished. There wasn't much more to say than that.

"Yeah, we will. But for now, thanks an' goodbye to all o' ya," chimed Crow.

He gave one last wave to his five new friends before he disappeared inside. As much as he tried to glance back, it didn't take long before the bustle of the crowd blocked them from view. This was it. He was leaving them behind and going home, at least for a while.

It was a strange feeling. Because while he was sad about being separated from his new friends, he was also happy to know that soon he'd be back with his old ones again. Hopefully they would forgive him for being away for so long and throwing a spanner in the works of their auctions. That was assuming they hadn't just carried on with them the whole time Crow was gone anyway. The Black Ravens were a resourceful bunch.

As he boarded the train, Crow allowed the thoughts of going home to overtake the sadness of leaving. It wouldn't do to get worked up when he had so much to look forward to.

This time he could take a quiet seat by the window without fear, as Margaret had been kind enough to pay for his ticket. Partly as thanks for the work he'd done and partly because Becky didn't trust him not to sneak on without paying otherwise. She was right to assume that.

The train was speeding back to Misthallery before long. It was a conductor came around to check the tickets this time, maybe because they were short on staff. He peered at Crow from behind his sunglasses, trying to place where he'd seen him before. But after Crow gave him his ticket, the man shrugged his shoulders and went on his way, whistling as he went.

Crow smiled and returned to his idle gaze out of the window.

Today marked the end of his first adventure outside of Misthallery. Right now he could only wonder when his next one would be.


End file.
